Newbie with Dolphin Grey TDi

Giraffe

Giraffe

Member
Another newbie - just checking in after capturing and returning a 2002 A2 Tdi that had escaped from Scotland. People unfamiliar with the breed can't believe it's 20 years old.

I had been watching on the sidelines for a while but am pleased to be an owner at last. The forum has already paid dividends by quickly solving the "rear seats won't lock down" issue. Next on the list is the water temp gauge never getting above 70°. I can see a steady stream of jobs ahead but hopefully nothing major (i.e. expensive) is lurking.

Just discovered @Sarge 's thread on A2 Servicing Information so that's the weekend homework!
 
Welcome to the forum :) Hope your new steed brings you joy and serves well for many years and miles. It would be worth adding the details of your A2 to the 'About' section of your profile to assist people responding to any questions you might raise, if you should forget to specify what engine, year etc.
 
Welcome aboard! Further to Ian's great advice above, you can also add your car details to your signature if you wish, that way it is immediately visible when you post.

Btw, A2 pictures are always appreciated, so don't be shy. :)
 
Thanks, I'll look into doing that.

Pictures will surely appear in future. At the moment it doesn't look that different to those posted from previous owner @ICowie
 
Giraffe said:
Thanks, I'll look into doing that.

Pictures will surely appear in future. At the moment it doesn't look that different to those posted from previous owner @ICowie
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Oh, did you get the one that had gone over to Ireland but the import tax was outrageous? That looked a very well-sorted car, glad to see it's still in the Club if so.
 
Welcome, and especially to a Dolphin Grey.
Buy a genuine or reputable brand Thermostat and Temp Sender, and change both at the same time. They can both play up, so best changed together.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
 
Thank you, I always fancied silver tbh but the Dolphin grey has an air of sophistication, at least in my head!

My A2 heater warms the car surprisingly quickly considering the number of comments I've seen in the forum. Does this indicate that the cooling system thermostat is okay and the sender is actually the problem?
 
Giraffe said:
Thank you, I always fancied silver tbh but the Dolphin grey has an air of sophistication, at least in my head!

My A2 heater warms the car surprisingly quickly considering the number of comments I've seen in the forum. Does this indicate that the cooling system thermostat is okay and the sender is actually the problem?
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You may get more informative responses from other members, most based on years of experience with these cars. There are several ways to answer your question!
1) The A2 TDI prior to 2002 (thereabouts) have the Webasto auxiliary diesel heater to both heat the cabin and pre heat the engine coolant. So a warm cabin is independent of actual engine temperature. Later models have an electric cabin heater only so engine temp issues are more apparent. Both operate only below an outside temp of something like 5 degrees.
2) If the temp indicator does not settle at 90 degrees (I find it can take up to 6 miles at this time of year) then it can be one of two causes. thermostat or temp sensor. The temp sensor complicates things a little as ther are two elements one sending to the gauge, the other to the CCU to control the fuel delivery. So depending on the mode of failure there are different symptoms.
 
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Always like saving ?
Great to know that any problem I encounter will already have been answered somewhere - what a great forum!
 
Proghound said:
Welcome to the forum :) Hope your new steed brings you joy and serves well for many years and miles. It would be worth adding the details of your A2 to the 'About' section of your profile to assist people responding to any questions you might raise, if you should forget to specify what engine, year etc.
Click to expand...
Just a minor point - when adding my details in the 'About' section, the purchase year only goes up to 2021. Us very recent purchasers will just have to pretend for now.
 
It's a long time since any of the current Admin team were filling out that screen! Thanks for letting us know and we'll get it sorted ?
 
Sootywg said:
You may get more informative responses from other members, most based on years of experience with these cars. There are several ways to answer your question!
1) The A2 TDI prior to 2002 (thereabouts) have the Webasto auxiliary diesel heater to both heat the cabin and pre heat the engine coolant. So a warm cabin is independent of actual engine temperature. Later models have an electric cabin heater only so engine temp issues are more apparent. Both operate only below an outside temp of something like 5 degrees.
2) If the temp indicator does not settle at 90 degrees (I find it can take up to 6 miles at this time of year) then it can be one of two causes. thermostat or temp sensor. The temp sensor complicates things a little as ther are two elements one sending to the gauge, the other to the CCU to control the fuel delivery. So depending on the mode of failure there are different symptoms.
Click to expand...
the webasto heats the engine coolant which in turn heats the cabin, so even if the webasto is adding most of the heat into the cabin the temp gauge should still be close to 90 deg after 4 miles if less than 7deg outside temp, as this is when the webasto kicks in on half heat, if it gets nearer to 0 deg the webasto kicks in at full (5.5kw)
 
With recent morning temps close to zero here, the cabin was heating up within five minutes so at least the Webasto heater must be working well. On a motorway journey the coolant temp gauge varies between 70° and 80° even after 50 minutes but at least I understand the difference between the two systems now.
 
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